title: Family resources and children's use of primary health care services in Finland in 1979.
abstract: The purpose of the study was to determine how children's use of primary health care services was related to family resources (socio-economic status, marital and residential stability of the family, and core/periphery dichotomy). The population consisted of a random sample of 3201 children from 15 municipalities in the province of Uudenmaan lääni in Southern Finland in 1979. Among two-parent families in the core regions total utilization of primary health care services was significantly higher among the children of workers and upper white-collar employees. Children of farmers and lower white-collar employees in the periphery exhibited low primary health care utilization. Children in upper white-collar employees' families (both two- and one-parent) in core regions frequently used private services. Among children of one-parent families, exceptionally high users of private services were children of upper white-collar mothers in core regions, and of municipal health services the children of working-class mothers in the periphery. Non-migrated children had a slight tendency to use health services more than migrated children. Differences in family resources thus cannot be ignored when children's utilization of primary health care services is studied.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Vuorinen
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008393:Marriage; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012923:Social Class; D014171:Transients and Migrants